WORK RELATIONSHIPS

Team relationships and camaraderie are easier to build when people are working face to face. One of the challenges of hybrid or remote work is duplicating those connections online without the benefits of breakroom conversation or bumping into each other in the hallway. 

Yet building these work relationships is an important part of success, not just for the company but for individual careers. Here are five ways to create those connections in remote teams:

1. Mentor program

For both the mentor and the mentee, these programs can be deeply rewarding and result in strong and long-lasting work relationships. They provide an opportunity for employees to discuss meaningful work issues and consider the best paths to success in your company culture. Mentoring conversations also help invest both parties in long-term success at your company.

2. New hire-buddy

Employees who’ve worked together on-site for years before the pandemic have the benefit of established team relationships that are more easily continued remotely. But new hires have a harder time building those work relationships, which is why it helps to have someone assigned to introduce you to people and help you navigate your way in a new culture and company.

3. Coffee roulette

This is a great way to build connections across silos and help employees build work relationships with people they may not ever know otherwise. Ask employees to sign up for a virtual coffee slot and then assign two to four people randomly to that slot. Keep the conversations short, like 20 minutes, and provide a few icebreaker questions to start the discussion.

4. Volunteer activities

If your team is working remotely but most people are located in the same geographic area, you can build work relationships through in-person volunteer projects. Have the team meet to pack food for the hungry, landscape a playground or pitch in on any other community need. This is also a nice way to level the playing field between execs and everyone else.

5. Friendly competition

Find something that’s not a work metric, but something each member of the team has the potential to win, regardless of their job role. It could be a fitness competition, like accumulating the most steps per week. Or something as simple as a morning wordle score report. The goal is to provide something outside work to help build work relationships.